The Present Disclosure relates generally to shielding cages that house electronic modules, and, more particularly, to cages of improved construction that permit cages in arrays of cages to be more closely spaced together, without sacrificing integrity of the cage construction, thereby saving space on circuit boards to which the cages are mounted.
Electronic modules are terminated to ends of cables to permit the cables to connector to board mounted receptacle connectors. The modules operate at high data transfer speeds and, as such, shielding is required at the module-connector mating interface to prevent the excessive emission of electromagnetic interference (“EMI”). Cages are therefore stamped and formed from sheet metal. The cages typically are formed from either a single sheet or two metal sheets. With the two pieces construction, the cage top is separately formed and attached to a cage body. Tabs formed on the sidewalk of the cage body engage opening formed in the cage top. The tabs project outwardly from the cage body sidewalls. In one-piece construction, a portion of the cage top is folded over one of the cage body sidewalls and the aforementioned tab-opening structure is used to hold the two ends of the metal sheet together. In both instances, the engagement tabs project outwardly and inhibit the ability for a designer to mount cages closely adjacent to each other on a circuit board. Additionally, the sheet metal from which present cages are made is relatively thick and when the similar thickness material is used to make EMI gaskets for the cage, the thickness prevents close spacing. As such, single port cages are not designed to allow them to be spaced very closely together, and designers are forced to use ganged cage designs which utilize more parts and are more costly.
Space on a circuit board is valuable and designers seek to constantly increase the number of electronic components while either maintaining the size of the circuit board or reducing its size. Accordingly, a need exists for a single cage having a design that permits it to be closely spaced together in cage arrays, and in particular, angled cage arrays without wide gaps between adjacent cages that permit EMI leakage.
The Present Disclosure is therefore directed to a shielding cage construction particularly suitable for use in shielding cage arrays in which the cages are more closely spaced together, without sacrificing the structural integrity of the shielding cage.